Daily Yellowstone journal., 1887-12-10
DECREASE OF DRUNKENNESS.
What . Hospital Attendant Has Noticed
Treatment Of Jiu,jAm Cases.

Treatment Of JiujAm Cases.
"It is my belief" said a gentleman
who for the past six years has been in
attendance six nights out Of the seven in
every week at the Chambers street hos
pital, 'that drunkenness is ON the de-
crease. There is enough Of il left,
goodness knows, but there is surely less
than there used to be. Out Of the
dispensary patients who five years ago
used to come here to be treated, it seemed
to me nearly half of them were suffering
/. from alcoholism of one kind or another.
They sat in row on the benches, wait
ing their turn, and nearly every night
one or more of them leaped into the
middle OF the room with the jimjams,
and uttered whoop that would send the
rest flying out of reach. That was SO
common then we thought nothing OF it.
Now it rarely happens. haven't seen
q jimjam case here this long time. /
don't believe it is too much to say that
we do not get half the alcohol cases we
used to. 1t certainly isn't because the
whisky is better. 1t is because there il
less of it drunk. 1t must be- The
whisky they sell in the dives along the
water front is loaded with jimjams TO
the very muzzle. II there was as much
of it drunk as there used to be there
would be just as many jimjam cases. l
think the buns must load up pretty reg
ularly now with stale beer. That only
makes the most of them soggy.
"Yet with the decrease in the number
of alcoholic cases treated, there has been
an enormous increase in the number Of
patients who have been cared for here.
We have now turned our twentieth thou
sand for the year 1887, and there are
nearly three months of the year lett.
This is several hundred more than we
treated in all last year. Last year tle
total number treated was 1881; the
year before that 1918 In 1884 Se
almost doubled over the number treated
In 1882. In 1892 we treated 1859, and
in 1884 1860. IL is not increase of
population, of course, which has done
this; it is increase in the popularity of
the hospital. 1t has become known that
surgical cases, to which this hospital is
devoted. are treated instantly. When a
man is hurt and brought here, he will
find a surgeon ready for him and will
receive immediate attention.
"As TO the JIM Jam cases | was speak
ing Of, we only treat them temporarily,
and then, if they are bad, send them eff
to Bellevue. We of course have TO send
to other hospitals all cases requiring long
nursing and attendance-that is, when
the patient is able to he moved. Our
accommodations are limited here, and
we would be swamped otherwise, and
have no room or time To accommodate
those who are hurt and must be attended
to at once. When a jimjam case turns
up we have mixture which we give.
and il that fails and the patient is really
In for it, we get him quiet and then send
him where they are prepared to handle
such cases. Ii very often happens that a
man will come in shaking all over, and
with the horrors after him, and thinking
he is right on the verge, when he ism T..
We give him some Of the mixture, and
tell him to come back for more if he gets
afraid again that they are coming on.
In many cases they do not come back for
more than the second dose, and that gen.
orally tides them over that particular
time. But. is | said. we don't see more
than half the number Of these cases we
used to. If it isn't temperance II is stale
beer. But | think there is much less
crazy drinking than there used to be. -
New York Sun.